Chapter 28: Cuju

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The next day, Zhao Yu brought Liang Liang Shicheng, Tong Qin Guan, Wang Bing, and more than a dozen servants and guards to Zhao Ji's Prince of Duan mansion.

Zhao Yu didn't bring so many people on purpose, but he had Huang Huang Jingchen manufacture a batch of soap overnight, preparing to give it to the Princes to promote the soap, so he brought so many people to move the soap.

Zhao Yu and his party entered the mansion under Gao Qiu's guidance, and saw that Zhao Ji's

The most eye-catching part was Zhao Ji's garden.

The garden was not only planted with all kinds of elegant and beautiful flowers, but also fruit trees such as peach, plum, pear, and apricot; with miscellaneous flowers interspersed, one glance revealed a scene as gorgeous as embroidery.

There was also a stone forest in the garden, and the rocks upon it were each shaped like ghosts, immortals, Buddhas, birds, and beasts.

What was magical was that this stone forest was also wreathed in curling mist.

Walking further inside for a while, Zhao Yu saw an antique-style pavilion.

At this time, exquisite tables and chairs had already been set up in the pavilion, covered with warm and delicate porcelain.

Based on the original owner's memories, Zhao Yu determined that these porcelains were all produced by the Ru Kiln—celadon-colored masterpieces; among them, a set of lotus-petal-style wine-warming porcelain pots, bright and translucent, understated and subtle yet profound in artistic conception, were absolutely the best of the best.

These expensive porcelains were already filled with candied dates, longans, lychees, olives, warm tangerines, kumquats, chestnuts, hazelnuts, Hebei pears, and Hexuo pomegranates.

The fine wine in that lotus-petal-style wine-warming porcelain pot could be smelled from three miles away even without a breeze.

Zhao Yu couldn't help but sigh: "Zhao Ji is truly a person who knows how to enjoy life!"

Seeing Zhao Yu arrive, Zhao Bi, Zhao Ji, Zhao Shi, and Zhao Si, who were chatting and laughing, all stood up to welcome him.

Zhao Ji said with no small amount of reproach: "The few of us have been waiting for you for a long time."

Zhao Yu hurriedly apologized: "Someone in my mansion developed a product called soap; this item can not only remove grime but also beautify the skin, and after washing, one's body can even emit a fragrance. I prepared some for each of you, which is why I am late."

Zhao Si said: "I usually use washing water prepared from honey locust and soapberry trees for bathing, which also has such an effect."

"The two are as different as heaven and earth." Zhao Yu turned his head and said to Zhao Ji: "Brother, have someone fetch water, and I will prove it to you all."

The princes were stunned! They hadn't expected Zhao Yu to be so invested in this tiny bar of soap.

Since Zhao Yu had already opened his mouth, Zhao Ji could only have people fetch a few basins of water.

Zhao Yu grabbed two handfuls of dirt from the ground, dirtied his own hands, showed them to the princes, and then began to wash his hands with the soap.

They saw Zhao Yu dip his mud-covered hands into the water and gently rub the soap; in an instant, fine, dense foam quickly enveloped his hands, and a rich fragrance drifted out, lingering at everyone's nostrils.

The princes were all attracted by this strange fragrance and leaned in to watch.

When Zhao Yu finished washing his hands and showed them to the princes, his hands, which had been full of mud, were now clean and fair, even glowing with a faint luster, as if they had been meticulously cared for.

Zhao Si couldn't help but exclaim: "This soap actually has such miraculous effects?!"

Although Zhao Bi couldn't see, his sense of smell was exceptionally good; he picked up a bar of soap, held it to his nose, sniffed it, and asked suspiciously: "How exactly is this soap made? It smells so good."

"I don't know the production process either; I only know that they selected a variety of rare spices and natural oils, which were refined and fused through multiple processes," Zhao Yu said.

Zhao Si could no longer hold back and said: "I want to try it too."

Having said that, Zhao Si followed Zhao Yu's example, dirtied his hands, and washed them with the soap.

When Zhao Si finished washing his hands and felt the lingering fragrance and smooth, tender touch on his skin, he couldn't stop praising it: "It really is extraordinary. Give me more of this soap; I'll throw away my washing water when I get back."

Zhao Yu laughed: "I'll cover the soap for all your mansions."

Next, Zhao Yu, Zhao Bi, Zhao Shi, and Zhao Si began to chat about soap.

As they chatted, they went off-topic and began to talk idly about everything under the sun.

Zhao Ji never said a word, just quietly observing Zhao Yu.

In Zhao Ji's view, Zhao Yu was just a bit more cheerful than before; nothing else was different.

After a good while, Zhao Ji finally found an opportunity and asked: "Why did you marry two palace maids from the Empress Dowager's palace as your Princesses? If this spreads, where will the dignity of our Imperial family be?"

Zhao Yu didn't expose Zhao Ji's jealousy in public, but instead gave the excuse he had long since prepared:

"The Empress Dowager missed the Prince of Bao and the Eldest Princess Shu Huai in front of me, pitying herself and expressing that she was lonely and helpless."

"I was raised by the Empress Dowager; how could I let her be like this? Therefore, I took the initiative to ask the Empress Dowager for a daughter of the Xiang clan to give her confidence and comfort."

"But the Empress Dowager had already given an order that the Xiang clan should not place their daughters in the selection."

"So I took the initiative to propose marrying Zheng Zheng Yaban and Wang Zheng Yaban, whom the Empress Dowager treats as foster daughters."

"Moreover, although these two Zheng Yaban are from humble backgrounds, they are overflowing with talent, humble, polite, virtuous, and upright, which suits me very well. I don't feel that marrying them disgraces me."

As soon as Zhao Yu said this, Zhao Ji's face immediately sank.

It wasn't just Zhao Yu who was raised by Empress Dowager Xiang; Zhao Ji and Zhao Si were as well.

Zhao Si was only fourteen, belonging to the newly adult category, so everyone would certainly have some tolerance for him.

But Zhao Ji was different; he was a year older than Zhao Yu. How could he not be able to do what Zhao Yu could do?

However, everyone knew the result: in the Funing Hall, Zhao Ji didn't save Empress Dowager Xiang, who had raised him, but chose to protect his own interests.

Without considering other aspects, in terms of filial piety alone, Zhao Ji was certainly outdone by Zhao Yu.

Zhao Ji criticized Zhao Yu unceremoniously: "You still dare to mention this! Offending Imperial Consort Liu is one thing, but how can you contradict your Imperial brother again? The late Emperor left six of us brothers in total; no matter what, we must not fight among ourselves and let others laugh at us!"

Zhao Yu retorted without backing down: "If it were a private matter, how would I dare to do this? It is truly because if Imperial Consort Liu were allowed to ascend to the position of Empress, I fear there would be a risk of the Zhao family's empire changing surnames, which is why I had to remonstrate with my life. We brothers are all present, yet we cannot just watch this poisonous woman, Imperial Consort Liu, grow powerful and give her the opportunity to imitate Wu Zetian, making the world laugh at the Zhao family for having no men?"

As soon as Zhao Yu said this, Zhao Ji, knowing that Zhao Yu wasn't shooting at nothing, was silenced.

Zhao Bi chimed in from the side: "What the Prince of Shen says is not without reason. Imperial Consort Liu's recent power-grabbing actions are truly something one must guard against."

Zhao Si also echoed: "That's right, the stability of our Zhao family's empire is the most critical priority; we must never tolerate this dangerous woman, Imperial Consort Liu, ascending to the position of Empress."

Zhao Shi helped Zhao Xu defend himself: "The logic is sound, but this matter of the inner palace involves too much. The Imperial brother has his own hidden difficulties in wanting to make Imperial Consort Liu Empress, and the Prince of Shen's intense actions at the time were also somewhat lacking in consideration."

Zhao Yu said with a sincere gaze: "I was also anxious at the time, thinking only that I could not let the ancestors' foundation be shamed or let my foster mother be humiliated, and I failed to consider the method of action thoroughly; there was indeed some rashness. However, I have absolutely no selfish motives. The Imperial brother is so wise that he must be able to understand my original intention."

This matter was actually difficult to judge as right or wrong, and it involved the most noble and powerful figures of the Zhao Song dynasty, such as Zhao Xu, Empress Dowager Xiang, and Liu Liu Qingjing. Therefore, after the few of them argued for a while, Zhao Bi, not wanting to continue this topic, changed the subject: "Let's not mention this for now. Today's cuju was meant for fun; don't let these annoying matters disturb your interest."

The princes echoed him one after another.

Thus, except for Zhao Bi, the others went down to play cuju.

It was just that the result really exceeded Zhao Yu's expectations.

He was completely defeated.

One must know that when he was in university, Zhao Yu had participated in the school soccer team and helped the school team achieve a fairly good result of 18th place in the National College League.

In Zhao Yu's mind, although Zhao Ji was a cuju expert, the techniques of the two sides were separated by a thousand years; even if he couldn't defeat Zhao Ji, he wouldn't lose too miserably.

However, reality gave Zhao Yu a resounding slap in the face, shattering his blind confidence.

Zhao Ji's ball skills were miraculous; the ball seemed to have a life of its own under his feet, moving nimbly between the crowd. His figure was elegant, twisting and turning, every step seeming to carry a graceful rhythm that made Zhao Yu unable to predict his moves.

Zhao Ji also had the divine assists of Gao Qiu and another handsome, bold, and graceful young man.

This young man was named Li Li Bangyan, and he was one of the future Prime Ministers for Zhao Ji and Zhao Zhen Huan.

Li Li Bangyan liked to communicate with scholars; those who entered the capital as candidates from Hedong would definitely pass through Huaizhou to visit Li Li Bangyan. If these candidates needed to purchase anything, Li Li Bangyan's father, the silversmith Li Pu, would stop his work to prepare it, and when they left Huaizhou, Li Pu would even subsidize their travel expenses. Li Li Bangyan thus gained a rising reputation. Later, through a friend's recommendation, he entered the capital not long ago to be a student at the Imperial Academy. Because he played a good game of ball, he was appreciated by Zhao Ji and often came to the Prince Duan's mansion to play.

Gao Qiu and Li Li Bangyan were like Zhao Ji's two arms, one with a steady style and the other with a free-spirited one; they could always pass the ball to Zhao Ji at the critical moment, creating excellent shooting opportunities for him.

Watching their flowing coordination, Zhao Yu sighed with regret in his heart: "If the three of them were born a thousand years later, would Chinese soccer become the world's laughingstock?"

After one match, Zhao Yu knew deeply that the gap between him and Zhao Ji and the others wasn't just in ball skills, but in that pure love for cuju and the tacit understanding honed over a long time.

As for the different rules between cuju and soccer, that really wasn't the main reason Zhao Yu lost to Zhao Ji.

After the match, Zhao Ji, who had played to his heart's content, finally had a smile on his face. He took the initiative to walk toward Zhao Yu and said: "Your ball skills also have their merits, but the way of cuju is not just about brute force and speed; you still need to strengthen yourself."

As for Zhao Si and Zhao Si, who had gone on the field for a turn and then came off, Zhao Ji was too lazy to comment on them; they were truly beyond saving.

What made Zhao Ji even happier was that through Zhao Yu's reckless style of play, he judged that Zhao Yu was just a simple-minded brute.

Zhao Ji thought: "The Prince of Shen might have just done these things out of filial piety; there is no deeper meaning."

Because Zhao Ji felt that Zhao Yu was not a threat, the interaction between the brothers became much more harmonious.

After leaving the field, everyone washed up with soap again.

Zhao Ji, who was using soap for the first time, also praised it endlessly.

Li Li Bangyan chimed in from the side: "If this soap were sold to the Fanlou, it would definitely make those young ladies flock to it."

The speaker had no intention, but the listener did.

Zhao Yu thought: "That's right, these famous courtesans in the brothels are the big stars of this era. If I have them do the advertising, will I have to worry about sales for my soap?"

Zhao Yu glanced at Li Li Bangyan: "He really is Li the Wanderer, talking about brothels as soon as he opens his mouth."

Suddenly, inspiration struck: "A dog can't change its habit of eating excrement, and a cat can't change its habit of stealing fish. Perhaps while I'm adding points for myself, I can also help Zhao Ji lose some points. As one grows, the other wanes; what will he have left to compete with me..."

……

(End of chapter)